WTF Hooligans?

Yes, people much smarter and tuned in than myself have discussed why the “youth” rioting in England should not be so surprising. But at the end of the day…. there are law-abiders and law-breakers.



Yes, there are exceptions. There are dictatorships and other shitty circumstances that merit a whole country rising up together to overthrow their current government.
Then there are hoodlums. What’s the difference? Chaos and violence for the sake of chaos and violence. There’s no bigger picture, no goal for the greater good.
Yes, there are also shithead cops who use unnecessary violence. No, I have no idea how extreme poverty feels. Yes, as a suburban SAHM mom, I probably have no idea what I’m talking about, but such is internet blogging.
Something I CAN speak to with a bit more legitimacy is the flash mob violence going on in Philadelphia. Basically, a bunch of kids (some as young as 11 but also up to mid-20s) use the internet and phones to organize at a probably random location just to pick a target or two to beat the living shit out of (and usually rob). Of course, "poverty" sort of conflicts with cell phones and computers, but let's not go there.
These beating don't just occur at night in the "bad" parts of Philly...they also happen in broad daylight, in center city and recreational areas.  No warning, no provocation.
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/08/09/third-flash-mob-attack-reported/
So..... point?  Bragging rights among friends?  Deliberate attempts to instill fear to keep people out of the city?  I dunno.  I can't even imagine being such a douchebag.  But if fear is the goal, then I suppose there is success.  I have plenty of things I'd like to take my daughter to experience in the city.
And while the threat of a flash mob may not frighten me, alone, I'm sure not about to put my baby at risk.  It's unthinkable.
I wonder if the NRA is having a field day with the England rioting to promote guns being so important.  I'm not going to google it.  Even if I'm not actually against guns, reading any NRA publication kills a few brain cells.  So I'll pass.
In fact, I can imagine maybe not the kids with guns, but the neighbors all emerging with guns and shooting the kids out of their neighborhood.  Yes, sounds very redneck, but it's not too hard to imagine, is it?  If you were trying to protect your home and your family from torch-wielding kids coming up your driveway..... well, the lack of guns probably accounted for the relatively few deaths.  Not that I'm saying the homeowners would be in the wrong....exactly.  But I also don't believe that the "right to bear arms" would have deterred the majority of the rioting.
And guns aren't helping Philly pedestrians, are they?  I wonder if Texas has flash mob violence... where everyone can openly carry a gun.  And no, not googling that, either.